Event Cancellation Policy

We want to be as explicit as possible: a paid entry fee is NOT a 100% guarantee of an event taking place and will not entitle a person to anything other than the opportunity to participate in the event if/when it happens.  Only those who understand and agree to these policies should register for participation.

What happens if an event must be canceled?

After 10+ years of operation and hundreds of races, we never had to cancel an event.  Then March 2020 came along and we were shut down for 17 months and many races were cancelled.  While most in the endurance industry were fortunate to avoid the illness and death caused by the pandemic, the financial effects of this lockdown on most races (and especially full-time event operations) were tremendous.

We will always make every effort to present an event as planned (or as closely to the original plan as possible), but we have no option other than sharing the risk involved with our participants.

There are many thing that can cause a race to be cancelled and that are beyond our control.  This includes things such as earthquakes, floods, extreme weather, civil unrest, pandemics, terrorism, unsafe air quality and other “Acts of God."

Refunds, and deferrals/transfers will not be issued for events canceled for these reasons.

If a race was canceled, why wouldn’t everyone just get full refunds?

If we were able to predict natural disasters and such months ahead of time, there would be no problem canceling an event and issuing refunds. In reality, such circumstances typically develop shortly before the event takes place, after virtually all race expenses have already been incurred.

We are a relatively small organization and wish to continue producing races into the future. For this reason, we require our registrants to share this risk with us.

And why not offer a deferral? 

The reason a deferral is not offered is because this would mean our organization would be paying all of the expenses to produce the event twice.  If the race entry fees were a small fraction of the actual cost, this would work, but in reality there is only a small percentage left after all expenses are paid.

Why is your policy like this?  Some races refund you if there is a natural disaster or something like that.  Why don't you?  Why don't you just get insurance?

While some event-producing organizations may have large sums of money and sponsorships that pay for much of the race, most local events come from your traditional mom-and-pop operations.  We do our best to put forth a professional image and produce high-end events, but we are definitely in the latter camp.

When we want to produce an event, we initially spend our own funds to get it started (create a website, submit a permit, create marketing materials, etc.).

When we open up registration, we do so with the requirement that the person registering agree that they are becoming our partner in funding the event and sharing the risk with us.  Even though it is mentioned in the waiver, we still include it as a specific question on the registration form, making sure the registrant acknowledges their understanding and agreement with the policy.

We do this for only one reason: to preserve the operation and save us from going bankrupt in the case of events beyond our control.

If something happens that makes it impossible for us to put on events for an extended period of time, we have the option to simply stop putting on events and seek alternative forms for employment.  If, however, we spend enormous amounts of money preparing for events and then find ourselves having to refund the funds we already spent, we end up not only out of business, but in bankruptcy.

Insurance that would fully cover all circumstances mentioned above would raise the entry fees to extreme levels.

Why would a registrant agree to a policy like that?

Most likely because first-time registrants are just willing to take a chance and repeat registrants have faith in our integrity and commitment to improving people's lives through the power of running and community.

Sometimes they won't even be able to come to the event because something happens in their life making it impossible.  And sometimes (though exceedingly rare), something happens in the world that makes it impossible for Brazen Racing to put the event on.

We believe the people who sign up for our events know that we aren't out to rip them off and that we would do every reasonable thing possible to present them the race as planned.  We appreciate the partnership and support our runners give us and we take the trust they put in us very seriously.